A critical archival study of unpublished Sanskrit Ayurveda manuscripts preserved in libraries of England
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70066/jahm.v13i8.2232Keywords:
Cambridge university, Oxford university, Libraries of England, Sanskrit Ayurveda manuscripts, unpublished Ayurveda manuscripts, manuscriptologyAbstract
Background: Manuscriptology is an important part of literary research in Ayurveda. India is the biggest repository of manuscripts. Outside India, England is a significant repository that preserves a large number of Sanskrit Ayurveda manuscripts. A large portion of them remain unexplored and unpublished. Objective: To create a curated list of unpublished Sanskrit Ayurveda manuscripts preserved in the libraries of England. Materials and methods: This descriptive, archival, bibliographic study conducted between October 2023 to January 2025 involved the identification of repositories of England such as the Bodleian Libraries, Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine, Cambridge University Library, and the British Library as well as the Sanskrit Ayurveda manuscripts preserved in them. This list of manuscripts was cross referred with data bases like Bharatiya Kriti Sampada IGNCA and various other scholarly references for the curation of unpublished Sanskrit Ayurveda manuscripts. Well preserved manuscripts were included whereas scantly foliated, damaged manuscripts were excluded. Results: Unpublished manuscripts that are unique to the libraries of England was identified like Jvarapaddhati, Sadhyasadhyapareeksha, and Sadvaidyakaustubha in Oxford, Chikitsa Prabandha Samuccaya and bhava cintamani in Wellcome Institute, Rajamartanda in Cambridge university library etc. Various manuscripts that are found in the libraries of England as well as in some repositories of India were also identified. Conclusion: The study brought out the archival wealth of Ayurveda manuscripts in England many of which are unexplored. Even though digitization and availability vary, most of the libraries have fairly well preservation methods. This study opened a plethora of unpublished manuscripts which demand domain specific expertise from Ayurveda scholars. Digitization, free access and scholarly initiatives are vital between the two countries for the advancement of Ayurveda.
References
Srivastava S. The Legacy of Treasure: Manuscript. Open Access Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology. 2020 Apr;2(2):1-17. Available from: https://doi.org/10.33552/OAJAA.2020.02.000533
Hoover Library. Archival Terminology [Internet]. Westminster (MD): McDaniel College; [cited 2025 May 17]. Available from: https://lib.hoover.mcdaniel.edu/archives/research/archival-terminology
Colas G. Review of: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Indian Manuscripts of the Chandra Shum Shere Collection in the Bodleian Library, ed. Jonathan Katz. Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient. 2003;90(1):364–6. Available from: https://www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_0336-1519_2003_num_90_1_3642
Index of Chandra Shum Shere Manuscript Collection now digitized [Internet]. Oxford: Bodleian Libraries; 2017 Jan 4 [cited 2025 Mar 25]. Available from: https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2017/01/04/index-of-chandra-shum-shere-manuscript-collection-now-digitized/
Wellcome Collection. The colonial roots of our collections – and our response [Internet]. London: Wellcome Collection; 2022 Dec 5 [cited 2025 Mar 25]. Available from: https://wellcomecollection.org/about-us/the-colonial-roots-of-our-collections--and-our-response
Wujastyk D. Sanskrit Manuscript Collections Outside India, with Special Reference to Ayurveda. Presented at: The National Seminar on Medical Manuscripts; 2005 Oct 5–6; Bangalore. G.G. Gangadharan, Editor. New Delhi: National Mission for Manuscripts and Dev Publishers & Distributers; 2012;23
Wujastyk D. A Handlist of the Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts in the Library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. Vol. 1. London: The Wellcome Institute; 1985;163–221
Wujastyk D. Sanskrit Manuscript Collections Outside India, with Special Reference to Ayurveda. Presented at: The National Seminar on Medical Manuscripts; 2005 Oct 5–6; Bangalore. G.G. Gangadharan, Editor. New Delhi: National Mission for Manuscripts and Dev Publishers & Distributers; 2012;54
Cambridge University Library. Sanskrit Manuscripts [Internet]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Digital Library; [cited 2025 Apr 21]. Available from: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/sanskrit/199
Wujastyk D. Sanskrit Manuscript Collections Outside India, with Special Reference to Ayurveda. Presented at: The National Seminar on Medical Manuscripts; 2005 Oct 5–6; Bangalore. G.G. Gangadharan, Editor. New Delhi: National Mission for Manuscripts and Dev Publishers & Distributers; 2012;22
Chinmaya International Foundation. Paper Manuscripts [Internet]. London. Endangered Archives Programme, British Library; [cited 2025 Apr 28]. Available from: https://eap.bl.uk/collection/EAP729-1-2/search
Bodleian Libraries. Sanskrit Resources [Internet]. Oxford: Bodleian Libraries; [cited 2025 Apr 28]. Available from: https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/c.php?g=422971&p=2888532
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. A Descriptive Catalogue of Microfilmed Manuscripts [Internet]. New Delhi: IGNCA; [cited 2025 Apr 30]. Available from: https://ignca.gov.in/divisionss/kalanidhi/reference-library/print-material/a-descriptive-catalogue-of-microfilmed-manuscripts/
National Mission for Manuscripts. Manuscript Database [Internet]. New Delhi: NMM; [cited 2025 Apr 30]. Available from: https://www.namami.gov.in/manuscript-database
Meulenbeld GJ. A History of Indian Medical Literature. Vol. II A. Bakker HT, Editor. Groningen: Egbert Forsten; 1999;529
Meulenbeld GJ. A History of Indian Medical Literature. Vol. II A. Bakker HT, Editor. Groningen: Egbert Forsten; 1999;271
Meulenbeld GJ. A History of Indian Medical Literature. Vol. II A. Bakker HT, Editor. Groningen: Egbert Forsten; 1999;765
Wujastyk D. A Handlist of the Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts in the Library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. Vol. 1. London: The Wellcome Institute; 1985;163
Wujastyk D. A Handlist of the Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts in the Library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. Vol. 1. London: The Wellcome Institute; 1985;171
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Haritha TJ, Dr Resmi B

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their work and grant the Journal of Ayurveda and Holistic Medicine (JAHM) the right of first publication. All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license, which permits non-commercial sharing, use, distribution, and adaptation with proper attribution and the same license terms.
JAHM ensures free, irrevocable, worldwide access to its content. Users may copy, distribute, display, and share published works for non-commercial purposes with appropriate credit to the author(s) and the journal. Limited printed copies for personal, non-commercial use are allowed under the same license.
If a submission is not accepted for publication, the author(s) will be notified.
By submitting, authors confirm that the work is original, that all listed authors have contributed and approved it, and that it does not infringe any third-party rights or duplicate work submitted elsewhere.